TOUGH CHOICES MUST NOT BE AVOIDED IN SOCIAL SECURITY DEBATE

February 16, 1999

WASHINGTON--The Concord Coalition today urged White House and
Congressional leaders to keep the focus of the Social Security debate
on the necessity of making tough choices today to ensure that future
generations will not saddled with an unconscionable tax burden.

"Leaders of both political parties are taking a large risk by
relying upon projections of massive budget surpluses over the next 15
years to keep from making difficult political choices," said Concord
Coalition Policy Director Robert Bixby. "The primary reason Social
Security reform is on the political agenda is that the program is
unsustainable over the long-term in its current form. So far, neither
the President nor the Republican Congressional leadership has come
forward with a plan to address this problem. There has been too much
talk about how to spend the surplus and not enough talk about how to
save Social Security."

"College students and other young people must understand that
the Social Security debate is essentially about them," said Concord
Coalition Youth Outreach Coordinator Jeff Thiebert. "If we really want
to reduce the burden on young people, we will save all of the surplus
for reducing debt and start discussing the politically tough choices
that will be necessary to make Social Security sustainable over the
long-term."

The comments were made in reaction to a series of Republican
town hall meetings advocating tax cuts and a White House Social
Security conference featuring college students and younger workers held
this week.